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Dmitry Jakovenko vs Vladimir Kramnik
Dortmund Sparkassen (2009), Dortmund GER, rd 9, Jul-11
Russian Game: Classical Attack. Staunton Variation (C42)  ·  1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 18 OF 18 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-11-09  percyblakeney: <Was Kramnik still going at "blitz speed" when a couple of moves later he played 21. ... Qc2>

Kramnik had gained four minutes on the clock at move 24, the 22. e6 line seems to end up with piece up for white but only a draw because of the black pawns, so Kramnik had surely looked at that line.

Jul-11-09  Marmot PFL: Possibly Kramnik let up a bit knowing a draw today and white vs Naiditsch tomorrow is a very favorable situation
Jul-11-09  whiteshark: Thankx to missed opportunities it will make the last round more exciting.
Jul-11-09  WhiteRook48: especially because Kramnik's going to win that
Jul-11-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <Marmot PFL: Possibly Kramnik let up a bit knowing a draw today and white vs Naiditsch tomorrow is a very favorable situation.>

Well, both players missed 33. ... Rd7!! (winning for Black), but that oversight should probably be explained not by any conscious letting up on Kramnik's part, but rather by the very tricky tactics involved: 33...Rd7! 34.exd7 Rxe5 35.Rxe5 Qxf6 36.h3 (36.Re8+ Kf7 37.d8Q Qa1+ ) 36...Kg7 37.Re8 c3 38.d8Q Qxd8 39.Rxd8 c2 and Black wins in a manner similar to what could have occurred later if Jakovenko had fallen for 43. Qd6?

In general, I think Kramnik made a serious effort to win. There were no realistic winning chances for either side in the final position. In any case, splitting the point today is a good result for Kramnik.

Jul-11-09  hcgflynn: is 25. e7 playable?
Jul-11-09  Ulhumbrus: <Peligroso Patzer: <Marmot PFL: Possibly Kramnik let up a bit knowing a draw today and white vs Naiditsch tomorrow is a very favorable situation.> Well, both players missed 33. ... Rd7!! (winning for Black), > If 33 Re3 loses to 33..Rd7, an alternative is 33 g4, and this may win eg 33...Rd7 34 exd7 Rxe5 35 Rxe5 Qxf6 36 Re8+ Kf7 37 d7-d8/Q Qa1+ 38 Kg2
Jul-11-09  yalie: 33.Re3 is obviously a blunder ... but I wonder if Jakovenko missed a win by not playing 33.Kg1. When I play through it looks like Kramnik has to sac a rook to relieve kingside pressure and Jako after the queen exchange is left witha winning position.

Here is a sample line:

33. Kg1 b4 34. fxg6 hxg6 35. Qg5 Rg7 36. Rd1 Rxe6 37. Bxg7 Qe7 38. Qxe7 Rxe7 39. Bf6 Re6 40. Bd8 Re5 41. Bc7 Re7 42. Bxa5 bxa3 43. Ra1 Ra7 44. Bc3 a2 45. Kf2

Jul-11-09  yalie: <In general, I think Kramnik made a serious effort to win. There were no realistic winning chances for either side in the final position. In any case, splitting the point today is a good result for Kramnik. >

while Kramnik tried to win in the end - the real credit for the game should go to Jakovenko (just like he was the goat in their earlier draw). His willingness to enter complications with the chancy Qd6 has to be applauded.

Jul-11-09  Ulhumbrus: <yalie> One alternative to 31 f4 is 31 h4 planning an attack on the h file by h4, Re4, h5 and Rh4 eg 31 h4 a5 32 Re4 b4 33 h5 c3 34 Rh4 Ra7 35 hg Rg7 36 Rh7! Rxh7+ 37 gxh7+ Kxh7 38 Qh5+ Kg8 39 Qh8 mate
Jul-11-09  Eisenheim: to flush out why 43 Qd6 wouldve been a trap by Qb8? 44 Qxb8 Rxb8 45 e8=Q+ rxe8 46 rxe8+ kf7 and then there's no way to stop the b or c pawn from promoting. overall, I still think Kramnik should've won this earlier
Jul-11-09  percyblakeney: Quite harsh of Chessbase to call this an <undeserved draw> for Jakovenko...

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

Jul-11-09  Hesam7: This line with 6...Bd6 might have been what Kramnik had prepared against Anand for their WC match.
Jul-11-09  Ulhumbrus: Considering the sequel to 28..dxc4- Kramnik's passed c pawn gave him considerable counterplay, enough to offer the sacrifice of a Rook, in fact- this suggests, instead of 25 Qe7 at once, 25 cxd5 cxd5 26 Qe7 Qc7 27 Qxf6 Re8 28 Re1 Qe7 29 Qe5 with the same plan of Bg5 and Bf6 except that now Black does not have a pawn on c4 threatening to go to c3.
Jul-11-09  Ulhumbrus: Instead of 22 Rxa1, Jakovenko may have missed a win with 22 e6! at once, threatening 27 Qc7, with Black's Q not yet on a5.
Jul-11-09  laskersteinitz: <Ulhumbrus: For the first eighteen moves they have repeated the game Bacrot vs Kramnik, 2009 > I am glad to see somebody else has noticed this. They don't mention it in the ChessBase report, where instead they say Luukkonen-Sisatto (2003) was replicated. (not found in this database).
Jul-11-09  veigaman: <the real credit for the game should go to Jakovenko (just like he was the goat in their earlier draw). His willingness to enter complications with the chancy Qd6 has to be applauded.> agree
Jul-11-09  visayanbraindoctor: This is an amazing game, which however computer analysis seems to have robbed of its charisma. The strategy and tactics that both players played and survived in human terms are astonishing.

First Jakovenko got surprised by a Kramnik Petrov novelty. 21. Na4 Qc2


click for larger view

In spite of that, Jako fought back trying to go for a win, and ingeniously found a way to bind up Kramnik's position, reaching this position after 30. Bf6:


click for larger view

Superficially without the use of computers, Kramnik looks to be in a bind. He cannot challenge White's control of the dark-square holes around his King, nor get rid of White's powerful passed pawn on the 6th rank, nor develop his Queen rook via Rd8. Jako meanwhile has the simple plan of advancing his f-pawn to f5, take on g6, lift his Rook to the 3rd rank, swing it to g3 or h3, and Kramnik's King is crunched. Most players would quickly lose in Black's position (they probably would not have any idea of what to do without computers).

On examining the position more closely, Kramnik needs to do two things: 1. Develop his Queen rook and swing it over to the Kingside in order to help in the defense. 2. March his own Queenside pawn majority in the hope that White's pieces would be forced to retreat to block them, thus releasing the intolerable pressure on his Kingside and center. These two strategical objectives are accomplished by Kramnik in one integrated plan: directly advancing his a and b pawns, which then clears the 7th rank for his Queen rook to occupy. Once on the 7th rank, the Rook can now swing over to the Kingside. Meanwhile without waste of tempo, Kramnik has also managed to advance his Queenside pawns:

30. Bf6 b5 31. f4 a5 32. f5 Ra7


click for larger view

Now an attack on the h-file by the White rook can be blocked by Rg7 or Rh7.

It's rather surprising that only two gross errors were committed by both players: 33. Re3? b4 ? overlooking 33... Rd7, which actually leads to variations which are difficult for the human eye to calculate.

In the rest of the game, Kramnik refuses a perpetual, and both players play it out, to an obviously drawn conclusion.

What a struggle!

Jul-12-09  percyblakeney: <Jakovenko went to heroic lengths to beat Kramnik's Petroff today despite being outprepared in the same line Kramnik drew with against Bacrot two days ago. Kramnik isn't booked up in these lines; he IS the book. His compatriot threw caution to the wind after a long think, going for a real exchange sac with 24.Qd6!? instead of the various draws that involved getting his material back with Bxf8. Brave and beautiful, if perhaps not entirely sound.

Kramnik found all the necessary defensive moves. A wild pawn race developed with both sides playing accurately until Jakovenko let his time get low (Kramnik still had around 50 minutes) and blundered with 33.Re3? This allowed an immediate and spectacular win for Black with 33..Rd7!! thanks to White's back-rank problem and the far-advanced black pawns. 34.exd7 Rxe5 35.Rxe5 Qxf6 36.Re8+ Kg7 37.h3 c3 and Black wins. Or 35.Bxe5 Qe7 and the d-pawn falls. 36.fxg6 Qxd7 (36..hxg6?? 37.Rh3! Oops.) Fantastic. Thanks, computer! Nor does White have a tempo to spare. 34.h3 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Qd6 is the simplest.

That would have basically ended the game and left Kramnik needing only a draw with Naiditsch tomorrow to clinch clear first place. (Bacrot-Leko and Naiditsch-Carlsen were already drawn.) But quite uncharacteristically, Kramnik played 33..b4 very quickly in Jakovenko's time trouble, continuing with the obvious plan and breaking Lasker's (?) maxim of "whenever you see a good move, stop and see if you can find a better one." (Not that any human would find such a move easily, of course, if at all, but unless the clock times are wrong he didn't really look around at all.)

The razor-sharp play continued apace with many lines saving White only by a miracle. But finally Kramnik had to choose to take a serious risk and play for three results with 41..Kh7 (or 41..Kg7) when White has serious counterplay with Re6 coming. Instead he made the practical choice considering the standings and tomorrow's pairings and went for 42..Qb5. Now 43.axb4 axb4 is still tricky. 44.Qd6? Qb8! 45.Qxb8 Rxb8 46.e8Q+ Rxe8 47.Rxe8+ and the black pawns are too strong even a rook down. But White keeps hope alive with the remarkable 44.Qd4! c2 45.Qd7! and draws, incredibly. 45..Qb8+ Rg3 and the threat of Qe6+ with mate gives White enough play to hold. Wow.

Kramnik has a Spider-Man-like danger sense and the squiggly lines appeared over his head at this point. He went into a rook endgame with 43..Qxc5 and even that wasn't simple. But Jakovenko kept his head and centralized his king to hold without somersaults. Great stuff from both players>

http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt...

Jul-12-09  kurtrichards: True to their nationality, Kramnik and Jakovenko played the Petrov or the Russian game. Very good game that leads to a draw.
Jul-12-09  whiskeyrebel: Good chess. I really wish I had watched it unfold live.
Jul-12-09  Perlis12: I dont really think, that only Jakovenko played for win, the sharp position was set up by Kramnik himself...he tried to outplay Jakovenko, its the old Kramnik...
Jul-12-09  crwynn: <yalie: 33.Re3 is obviously a blunder ... but I wonder if Jakovenko missed a win by not playing 33.Kg1. When I play through it looks like Kramnik has to sac a rook to relieve kingside pressure and Jako after the queen exchange is left witha winning position. Here is a sample line:

33. Kg1 b4 34. fxg6 hxg6 35. Qg5 Rg7 36. Rd1 Rxe6 37. Bxg7 Qe7 38. Qxe7 Rxe7 39. Bf6 Re6 40. Bd8 Re5 41. Bc7 Re7 42. Bxa5 bxa3 43. Ra1 Ra7 44. Bc3 a2 45. Kf2>

40...Re5 and 41...Re7 are really bizarre moves. 40...Re2 looks like a draw.

Aug-05-09  whiteshark: Alexandr Fier annotates the game: http://chessbase.de/cbm/cbm131/cbm1...
Jul-13-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: Black's opening preparation seems to have a little hole here. Immediate 21.e6 with idea 21...Qxc3 22.Qd6 looks like a problem for black. For example, 22...Nb3 23.Qd7 f5 24.e7 Rfe8 25.Qe6+ Kh8 26.Bf4 with next 27.Be5+ is hopeless for black.
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